Chapter Summaries

Ian reflected on his plans for the South Sea and the dangers surrounding it while checking in on Sha Sha and Green Pupil, then prepared to investigate the Terra Dragon’s inheritance from the Atlan Breeding Grounds. He found Elan there and reunited with his younger brother, ending the chapter in a moment of peace.

• Ian accepted the Empire’s grants of rank, territory, and permission to establish the Spirit-Veneration Church, while questioning Axel’s motives.
• Ian sensed Sha Sha and Green Pupil swimming together and discovered that a ship near the South Sea Grand Labyrinth was bait intended to track them back to its hidden entrance.
• Ian told Sha Sha and Green Pupil to destroy the bait ship from a distance and considered how Green Pupil’s multiple bodies might help him prepare to fuse his own divided forms into Ultimate Ian.
• Ian turned his attention to the Crystal Dragon avatar in the Atlan Breeding Grounds to investigate the Terra Dragon’s inheritance and found that Elan was already controlling one of the dragon bodies.
• Ian and Elan embraced through their Crystal Dragon bodies and shared a joyful reunion.

After Miles’s attempt to protect Loren unexpectedly affected both boys’ psionic abilities, Ian investigated and discovered how psionic awakening worked through the Great Aetheric Current. He realized he could use this knowledge to create Artificial Psionics, giving the Spirit-Veneration Church the means to rise.

• Miles tried to shield Loren from a falling icicle, but his psionic ability pulled it back onto Loren after Loren had dodged.
• Ian observed Miles and Loren and concluded that Miles’s strengthening soul had weakened the resentment that had made his psionic abilities unreliable.
• Ian realized Loren’s faith psionic ability had responded to Miles’s protective conviction, revealing that divine grants and psionic awakenings followed the same process.
• With Terra’s Heart and Precognitive Vision, Ian examined the Great Aetheric Current and saw how intense emotions connected people to psionic models.
• Ian understood that the orthodox churches created Artificial Psionics by recording psionic models and cultivating children to match their requirements, and he recognized that he could do the same.

The Dragon Kings descended on Terra, stripped the Abyssal Dragon from the Void Realm, and shattered the Cursed Earth’s hold over the Western Border. With Death Knell destroyed and the Demon Legion weakened, the Empire launched a great counteroffensive into Nemasas.

• The Gale Dragon King and the Trueflame Dragon King descended over Southern Ridge and exposed the Abyssal Dragon beneath the Void Realm.
• The Dragon Kings removed the Abyssal Dragon and took it back to Dragon Island, causing the Cursed Earth to collapse across much of the Western Border.
• The Landkeeper Axel resolved to visit Dragon Island to learn about his father’s inheritance, while Ian, Barton, and Count Silverpeak were named as candidates for the counteroffensive.
• Ian and Southern Ridge’s other fighters forced Death Knell into the Void Realm, where the Giant of Light destroyed it with a beam strike.
• As the Empire mobilized more than twenty legions and allied with the Farflame Lands Expeditionary Legion, its armies broke through the defenses and advanced into Nemasas proper.

Loren awakened the healing psychic ability called holy light and began aiding injured workers across Xiahui Territory, spreading the Spirit-Veneration Church’s name. As the Church prepared to lay the foundation for its holy site, Frostsky Dome, the Church of Light’s delegation and an airship gift from Yafda Silver Gate drew widespread attention to the ceremony.

• Loren admitted that he had first wanted revenge for his suffering, but chose to use his holy light to help others and honor his grandmother.
• Ian sent the exhausted Loren to rest, naming him the future holy son of the Spirit-Veneration Church.
• In March 775, Xiahui Territory introduced Iron Man construction exoskeletons, while Loren’s healing squad treated injured workers and helped the Spirit-Veneration Church gain followers.
• The Spirit-Veneration Church announced its Frostsky Dome foundation-laying ceremony for April 12, 775, prompting many factions to question whether it could establish a true holy site.
• The Church of Light’s Embrace sent a high-ranking delegation, and revelations about Ian’s abilities, Fairy transformation, and connection to the First Knight made factions take the ceremony more seriously.
• Yafda Silver Gate gifted an airship to Xiahui Territory in his personal capacity, turning further attention toward the Spirit-Veneration Church’s ceremony.

Ian monitored Shadowmeld as the demon infiltrated Xiahui Territory, while Blazing Flame Lands’ Radiant King Carlo used Shadowmeld’s intelligence to prepare an offensive against Ian. Ian learned that Blazing Flame Lands planned to act within a year and asked the Gale Dragon King about fusion demons and half-demons.

• Ian analyzed Shadowmeld’s nature and suspected Blazing Flame Lands was developing demon-related elite forces modeled on the Dead River Armament.
• Carlo studied Blazing Flame Lands’ strategic position and concluded that the Federation needed to attack the Empire before Ian and Xiahui Territory grew stronger.
• Shadowmeld successfully infiltrated Xiahui Territory and sent Carlo detailed intelligence about its defenses, technology, and development.
• Carlo ordered Shadowmeld to locate and sabotage Xiahui Territory’s energy systems within less than a year, while Ian secretly monitored their exchange.
• Ian realized Blazing Flame Lands had advanced its plans but still lacked the strength for a guaranteed attack, then asked the Gale Dragon King whether fusion demons and half-demons were known beings.

After defeating the Dark Gold Dragon, Ian explained his Fourth Energy Level Aether Furnace and inherited Dragon Heart Core to Ethan and Sheo, then shared what they had learned about the Thousand-Stars Beast and the Obsidian Key. As Ian reconsidered the Star Gods and his Guiding Star, he began to suspect that his Precognitive Vision and innate memories were an Echo or mirror of himself across time and parallel space-times.

• Ian recovered with Ethan and Sheo beside the Dark Gold Dragon and revealed that his left arm contained a Fourth Energy Level biological Aether Furnace and his chest held an Ancient Dragon Core.
• Ethan explained that the Dragon Heart Core could let Ian pursue the Fifth Energy Level, while Ian said Hilliard had passed the core to him through the Pioneer legacy.
• Ethan and Ian shared what the Ancient Dragon Echo had revealed about the Dragon of a Thousand Stars, the Thousand-Stars Beast, the Light-Eater Dragon bloodline, and the Obsidian Key; Ian suspected the key could make Ethan part of the Empire's world-destruction plan.
• Sheo relayed her own information from the Ancient Dragon Echo, and Ian questioned its claim that the Star Gods were dead, speculating that they might have retreated to other parallel space-times.
• Ian realized that his innate memories and Precognitive Vision might be an Echo or mirror transmitted across time and parallel space-times, and wondered whether he himself was such an Echo.

After witnessing the Demon of Terminus in a prophetic vision, Ian theorized that it was a temporal lifeform freed by Aether and explained why it could notice the Dragon of Light. While his body on Dragon Island entered healing hibernation, his other body fashioned a temporary disguise from Unmelting Ice and prepared to leave the ruins with his friends.

• The Gale Dragon King rescued Ian from the backlash of his vision, and Ian concluded that Terminus had noticed the Dragon of Light without discovering Terra.
• Ian proposed that Terminus was a temporal lifeform from within a black hole’s event horizon, and that Aether had freed it from its fate of falling into the singularity.
• Ian reasoned that the Dragon of Light’s near-light-speed movement might have let Terminus glimpse it, while Dragon Island’s seal kept the black hole cut off from Aether.
• Ian’s body on Dragon Island entered self-healing hibernation as the Gale Dragon King promised to restore him.
• Inside the Ice-Mist Dragon’s Nest, Ian used Unmelting Ice and blood from Ethan, Sheo, and Anfa to create a temporary body disguised as injured flesh.
• Ian and his friends cleaned up the Dragon Nest and left the ruins, while Ian noted that the Bison Mountains still held secrets to explore.

Ian rejected the Gale Dragon King's offer to become a Dragon King and revealed that he was a second Pioneer, determined to find the future paths of Terra and the True Dragons. He showed the Gale Dragon King visions of possible futures, including civilization united against the Swarm and Terra being destroyed by a Void Spawn, then invited him to witness Ian's fourth path.

• The Gale Dragon King offered Ian the chance to become a Dragon King so he could gain more time and help maintain Dragon Island's seal.
• Ian declared that he was the second Pioneer to receive a response from the Star Gods' Great Aether Current and said he sought the future paths of Terra, civilization, the stars, and the True Dragons.
• The Gale Dragon King followed Ian into Prophet's Omen and saw possible futures in which the Swarm threatened Terra and humanity united under a civilization of gods.
• The Dragon King witnessed Terra crack apart as a colossal Void Spawn emerged from its core and carried living beings into the void.
• Ian noticed the Gale Dragon King following him through the visions and invited him to witness the future of his fourth path.

Ian recognized that the Empire’s floating-city shield network might conceal a far more destructive plan, while the first city’s assault on the Blazing Flame Lands helped turn Terra into a continent-wide war. The chapter ended with Silverpeak Domain preparing its floating-city project as the Dragon Kings awoke after completing their review of the Abyssal Dragon.

• Ian inferred that the Empire’s floating cities could form a planetary shield network and suspected the Landkeeper might use it to survive the Thousand-Stars Beast’s destructive release.
• The Empire’s nobles, including Ian, signed an agreement to build floating cities and connect them to the coming shield network and terminal information network.
• Far Frontier devastated the Abasalom fortress cluster and drove the Empire’s advance into the Blazing Flame Lands, prompting other powers across Terra to join the war.
• Far Frontier fought the kings of Skyflood, Clear Thunder, and the Wild Sea above the Lant Great Forest; the city fell, and Skyflood King Kaldo Abasalom died.
• The Empire’s war effort expanded as floating-city construction began across its domains, while Silverpeak Domain completed the preliminary Great Snowcap Holy Land and relocated the Fairy nest.
• Ian learned that the Dragon Kings had finished reviewing the Abyssal Dragon, and the other two Dragon Kings awakened.

Campani and Yafda fought with their spacetime-based Aether True Forms, but Campani proved far stronger despite being weakened. As an unexpected voice distracted them, a dark-golden dragon attacked Campani, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Campani unleashed the Dust-Mist World Tree’s destructive State Domain, while Yafda used Silver Gate doors to redirect the attack.
• Yafda struck Campani from seventeen directions with subspace fissures, but Campani shattered every blade with a touch.
• Campani countered with tracking psionic attacks that Yafda repeatedly teleported away, while Yafda worried that Echo had failed to weaken Campani enough.
• Campani challenged Yafda to summon his allies, and an unfamiliar voice suddenly distracted both fighters.
• A dark-golden dragon burst from the Subspace Labyrinth and sent a gravity-wave breath surging toward Campani.

Ian used Baron Isa’s refusal to join Southern Ridge’s network as grounds to have Azure Tide kill him, forcing the remaining holdouts to comply. As Ian expanded his influence through the network, Artificial Souls, medical aid, and refugee programs, he realized the Imperial Capital was using wartime attacks to impose its own reforms; the chapter ended with Adalbert waking after his transformation into the Giant of Light.

• After Baron Isa drove off Ian’s engineers, Azure Tide and Steelfeather attacked Isa Domain, killed Isa, and destroyed his castle while disguising the assault as a Blazing Flame Lands raid.
• Ian explained to Scott that Isa’s death was meant to deter resistance, and the remaining nobles who had opposed the network submitted and sent apologies.
• Ian extended the network across Southern Ridge, promoted Artificial Souls and medical aid, sent pioneer groups to the Wild Forest Swamplands, and arranged public executions of captured spies across the province.
• Ian discovered that the Imperial Capital had also used attacks and sabotage as a pretext to connect territories to a network, and he concluded that Axel was using the war to accelerate reforms before the Empire’s counterattack.
• Ian told Scott to prepare food reserves and asked Marquis Barton and Viscount Grant to protect Canaanmore’s trade routes as the invasion threatened Southern Ridge’s agriculture.
• Ian received news that Adalbert had awakened after stopping the falling airship wreckage as the Giant of Light.

The Gale Dragon King explained that the Void Demon Swarm consisted of the lingering hatred of destroyed civilizations, and Ian suspected demons might be behind the Light Calamities and could infiltrate Terra. Ian prepared to support Xiahui Territory from Dragon Island, while the Mountain Folk later found the Ice-Mist Dragon’s legacy in Great Snowcap.

• The Gale Dragon King told Ian that demon nests held the remnants and resentment of civilizations destroyed by the Calamity of Falling Skies, and that Terra’s Void Realm Mech-Gods had fought the demons.
• Ian speculated that demons could be causing Light Calamities and might have infiltrated human civilization, and the Gale Dragon King agreed to investigate with an old friend.
• The Gale Dragon King explained that the other Dragon Kings were occupied with their own pursuits and told Ian to continue repairing his dragon body and inheritance.
• Ian sent hundreds of Unmelting Ice spikes toward Terra and said he would act as a prophet to prepare cautious countermeasures without involving Dragon Island in Terra’s conflicts.
• Ian at Xiahui Territory welcomed the possibility of demons or other threats and returned to his experiments.
• Two weeks later, the Mountain Folk found Doran Bonasen’s Ice-Mist Dragon legacy deep in Great Snowcap.

Ian defeated Major General Demka while allowing Farshore Island’s infiltrators to continue toward the Terra Dragon’s remains, intending to discover their goal and upgrade the Glazed Dragon amid the chaos. As the Fourth Energy Level battle between Dark Vortex and Marquis Valenti continued, a pillar of light rose from Atlan Megacity and the phantom of Terra Draker appeared above the planet.

• Ian’s Glazed Dragon crashed into the infiltrators’ formation, and Major General Demka engaged him while the task force continued its mission.
• Ian used the fight to adapt to the Crystal Dragon body and awaken its Heartlight power, then revealed his strength and defeated Demka.
• Ian left the half-defeated Demka to Viscount Light Coral and let the Farshore Island troops proceed toward the Terra Dragon’s remains while he planned to upgrade the Glazed Dragon.
• Dark Vortex and Marquis Valenti clashed in the Tranquil Sea, where Dark Vortex declared that Farshore Island would accomplish its objective regardless of Valenti’s efforts.
• A brilliant pillar of light rose from Atlan Megacity, and the phantom of Terra Draker appeared in the planet’s atmosphere.

Shadowmeld, a half-demon spy sent by the Blazing Flame Lands to investigate Xiahui Territory, was astonished by Rosy Glow City's prosperity, orderly citizens, and unmanned combat armor while sampling Happiness Brand Cola. As he set out to infiltrate the city hall, an unseen silver-white sun watched him from above.

• Shadowmeld's past was revealed: after the Empire's biological warfare destroyed his fishing hometown, Blazing Flame Lands experiments awakened his psionics and fused him with the demon Gluttony.
• Shadowmeld arrived in Rosy Glow City to investigate Ian Silverpeak and learned from a public broadcast that Xiahui Territory was cooperating with Dr. Carlo Vicas of the City of Knowledge.
• A crowd gathered for free Happiness Brand Cola, guarded by two unmanned combat armors, and Shadowmeld was surprised by the sweet drink and the citizens' enthusiasm.
• Shadowmeld saw an armor catch and warn a man who tried to collect cola twice, and he realized the machines could identify people and might explain why spies had been discovered.
• Shadowmeld planned to eat a city hall official to steal his memories and infiltrate Xiahui Territory, unaware that a silver-white sun above the city was watching him.

Ian worked to consolidate his authority over the Mountain Folk and prepare Xiahui Territory for a coming war, while learning that Grand Duke Solin wanted to meet and potentially cooperate with him. Ian declined Solin’s offer for support, then took Adalbert to the Void Realm to show him a computational nexus he considered the foundation of his vision for the future.

• Ian ordered Scott to summon senior Mountain Folk priests and declared that he alone represented the absent Dragon God, while blaming Blazing Flame Lands’ spies for stirring dissent.
• Ian instructed Azure Tide to expand armored forces, train pilots, and fortify the regions between the Bison Mountains and Blazing Flame Lands against an expected invasion.
• Adalbert told Ian that Grand Duke Solin had praised his progress and offered to meet in the Void Realm and help resolve threats.
• Ian said he would meet Solin to exchange intelligence but would not accept his offer, explaining that the Dragon Kings had agreed to sponsor him.
• Ian revealed that he had acquired a chip capable of housing souls and artificial intelligences, then led Adalbert toward the Void Realm to show him what he called the foundation of his vision for the Undead Monarch.

Death Knell advanced to the Fourth Energy Level and attacked Ian, who used superior swordsmanship to hold him off. Ian broke Death Knell’s momentum with Sheo’s intervention, then was joined by allies who surrounded the demon.

• Death Knell absorbed the Demon Legion’s souls and became a Fourth Energy Level archdemon, alarming observers across Terra.
• Ian faced Death Knell’s fiery assault and used Terra’s Heart to detect and deflect the demon’s hidden attack.
• Ian’s swordsmanship initially forced Death Knell back, but Death Knell adapted and shattered Ian’s icy sword.
• Sheo struck Death Knell with psionic flames, disrupting his attack and revealing that she had joined Silverpeak Domain.
• Elder Manyan, Marquis Barton, Viscount Grant, Sheo, and a Giant of Light approached and surrounded Death Knell with Ian.

Ian recovered Death Knell’s final great demon soul and fought the Abyssal Consciousness to secure the demon souls for Terra’s Heart. After reporting the danger to the Empire, Ian accepted an invitation to witness its coming counteroffensive and prepared to rebuild the Southern Ridge, while the City of Knowledge began taking an interest in him and Mahdi.

• Ian learned that Death Knell had finally died because no one remembered the destruction of his hometown, and he claimed Death Knell’s remaining soul as a valuable resource.
• Ian and Adalbert discussed studying demon technology, and Ian considered reshaping demons into orderly beings and combining their abilities with the Swarm’s contracts.
• The Abyssal Consciousness tried to seize the demon souls, but Ian joined with Terra’s Heart and drove it back.
• Ian reported the Abyssal Consciousness to Second Prince Mikael and received an invitation to witness the Empire’s counteroffensive near Qianmalian Mountain in late July.
• Ian planned to restore the Southern Ridge before attending the counteroffensive, while a blue-eyed figure in the City of Knowledge discussed inviting Ian, Mahdi, and the Ellen Family’s young master as guests.

Marquis Barton welcomed Ian Silverpeak back to Nauman City as the Southern Ridge’s new count, recognizing him as the successor who could preserve the region’s future and his own legacy. As Ian prepared a speech and requested potion ingredients, his Guiding Star activated and received a grateful payment from a Swarm Ian in a parallel spacetime.

• Marquis Barton reflected on his age, his fear of losing his honor, and his hope that Ian would succeed him in guiding the Southern Ridge.
• Ian arrived by airship in Nauman City, where nobles, officials, knights, and townspeople had gathered to celebrate his return as the region’s first count.
• Barton and Ian embraced and acknowledged their mutual respect before Barton escorted him toward City Hall for his scheduled speech.
• Ian asked Barton to procure ingredients for Mind-Clearing Potions and Fear Potions, explaining that he intended to make a lie more convincing, and also requested atomizers.
• At the municipal alchemy laboratory, Ian activated his Guiding Star and realized that Barton’s acceptance of him as successor had already begun guiding the Southern Ridge.
• Ian received battle information, gratitude, and payment from a Swarm Ian in a parallel spacetime after that Ian apparently followed his advice.

Ian secured Imperial funding for Silverpeak Domain’s projects while expanding its research and psionic training programs. Bishop White Mist then warned him that the City of Knowledge would soon suffer a calamity and urged him to alert Mahdi Gloomvale.

• Ian persuaded Prince Carlos to fund a forward base construction vehicle and a floating factory city, then questioned the Imperial Capital’s response to his soul research.
• Carlos’s promised funds arrived, and Silverpeak Domain’s Fusion Demon Detector became popular as the domain continued analyzing demon technology.
• Ian encouraged Loren to keep training Holy Light Priests, while the Church of Light’s Embrace took charge of the revenge-driven Avengers for training.
• Bishop White Mist told Ian that Elan would come to Rosy Glow City to train as a holy servant under Ian’s authority.
• White Mist warned Ian that the City of Knowledge faced an approaching calamity and told him to alert Mahdi Gloomvale.

Isengard traveled with the Empire’s delegation to the City of Knowledge, reflecting on Ian’s dream and facing suspicion over his ties to Mahdi Gloomvale and the First Knight’s legacy. As rival envoys moved against him on Guest Island, Ian descended from the sky in dragon form and stood beside his friend.

• Isengard reflected on Ian’s dream of exploring the heavens and awakened to the idea that Fifth Energy Level powerhouses sought to build a world they believed was right.
• Count Koma accused Isengard of secretly supporting Mahdi Gloomvale and declared that he would demand the return of the First Knight’s research and imperial legacies.
• The Shadebloom reached Heavenly Capital, and Isengard marveled at the City of Knowledge’s vast aerial fortress and advanced airship infrastructure.
• Envoys from several factions watched Isengard and began quietly joining forces as the Empire’s delegation arrived at Guest Island.
• Ian descended from the sky in dragon form, drove back the hostile envoys with his landing shockwave, and challenged anyone who had intended harm toward Isengard.